Photo: Terryjoyce · CC BY-SA 3.0St Osyth stands out for vehicle crime: 5.2 times the rate of a typical town its size
Compared with the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, it records less crime per resident than 12%. Annual rates stand at 34.4 violent and sexual offences and 11.9 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every thousand residents. Overall, it grades C for safety. Violence recorded locally climbed 73% in a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in St Osyth
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 73% more violent crime per resident in St Osyth than in the year before; across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 550 UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000 people, St Osyth has the 470th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Upper Heyford, Meliden and Rockwell Green, higher than Chigwell Row, Bestwood Village and Mortimer. Towns its size ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
52% of St Osyth’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 0% in the lowest-crime 30%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind St Osyth’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 312 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks St Osyth against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
How crime in St Osyth has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling twelve-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year (longer windows for smaller places, where a few crimes swing a month). In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent +73% (towns its size +3%), homes and vehicles +90% (towns its size +0%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, St Osyth runs highest on vehicle crime (8 per 1,000 against 1.5), violence & sexual offences (43.1 per 1,000 against 16.6) and public order (6.2 per 1,000 against 2.4).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 97 | 43.1 | 16.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 18 | 8 | 1.5 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 15 | 6.7 | 3.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 14 | 6.2 | 2.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 13 | 5.8 | 5.3 |
| Other theft | not graded | 11 | 4.9 | 2.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 6 | 2.7 | 0.6 |
| Other crime | not graded | 6 | 2.7 | 1.1 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 5 | 2.2 | 1.6 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 4 | 1.8 | 0 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 3 | 1.3 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 2 | 0.9 | 0 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
“Violent” is police.uk’s violence and sexual offences (which includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury), robbery and possession of weapons. Anti-social behaviour isn’t a crime category; shoplifting and other theft happen mostly in shops and town centres rather than to residents, so neither counts in the grade.
September 2025 to August 2026, per 1,000 residents. The tick on each bar is the typical (median) town among UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people.
St Osyth is 470th of 550 UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 11 | Great Totham Essex | 2,773 | 8.9 | 2.6 | 2.1 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 95 | Tollesbury Essex | 2,811 | 14 | 4.7 | 2.3 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 154 | Rowhedge Essex | 2,492 | 16.3 | 5.9 | 3.9 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 192 | Bicknacre Essex | 2,277 | 18.2 | 5.9 | 2.1 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 467 | Chigwell Row Essex | 2,115 | 30.1 | 15.8 | 4.7 | C |
| 468 | Bestwood Village Nottinghamshire | 2,151 | 32.4 | 13.5 | 4.3 | C |
| 469 | Mortimer Berkshire | 2,932 | 25.8 | 20.1 | 15.1 | C |
| 470 | St Osyth Essex | 2,249 | 34.4 | 11.9 | 4.2 | C |
| 471 | Meden Vale Nottinghamshire | 2,095 | 30.4 | 15.9 | 3.3 | C |
| 472 | Brynamman Dyfed | 2,636 | 37 | 9.4 | 3.5 | C |
| 473 | Great Haywood Staffordshire | 2,029 | 36.5 | 10 | 3.1 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 550 | Avonmouth Bristol | 2,643 | 82.9 | 54.6 | 60.4 | D− |
Safety letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only.
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near St Osyth, and others in Essex.
Crime in St Osyth per 1,000 residents
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
And about 17 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 7 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
No one died in a collision on St Osyth’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 17 collisions with injuries inside St Osyth in five years. 1 person was killed or seriously injured: 1 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, and St Osyth is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of St Osyth’s size at the median for UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people would see about 1 people killed or seriously injured in five years; St Osyth had 1.
Casualties are counted where the collision happened, not where people lived: a main road through town adds through-traffic, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Seriously injured uses the Department for Transport’s adjusted figures, which even out the police forces’ different ways of recording injuries. There’s no national rate here: more than half of road deaths in England and Wales (58%) happen outside every town’s built-up area. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), 2021–2025.
Collisions police recorded inside St Osyth’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around St Osyth
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Osyth | 2,249 | 34.4 | 11.9 | C |
| Point Clear | 1,707 | 53.5 | 15.2 | D |
| Jaywick | 5,080 | 87.5 | 28.9 | D− |
| Brightlingsea | 8,678 | 25.1 | 7.9 | B− |
| Clacton-on-Sea | 53,190 | 61.2 | 19.6 | D− |
| Little Clacton | 2,458 | 21 | 6.5 | B |
| Thorrington | 1,427 | 10.5 | 3 | A+ |
| Great Bentley | 1,746 | 26.2 | 10.9 | C+ |
St Osyth records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 7 neighbours. Brightlingsea, 2.5 miles away, records 25.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against St Osyth’s 34.4.
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Where crimes happen, not where victims live. police.uk places each crime at a point near where it happened. Town centres with shops, stations, a hospital and nightlife record more crime per resident, and residents of nearby villages who come in to shop or go out are part of that count.
- Bigger towns record more per resident. Across UK towns, recorded crime per resident rises steeply with size, more than in the U.S., so a city’s grade sits low against the whole UK. The “towns its size” figures show where St Osyth sits among towns like it; they are context and don’t change the grade.
- Points are approximate. police.uk moves each point to the nearest of a set of anonymous map points, so crimes near the edge of the built-up area can fall either side of it.
Questions about safety in St Osyth
Is St Osyth safe?
Police recorded 34.4 violent and sexual offences and 11.9 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside St Osyth’s built-up area). That earns a C for safety: less crime per resident than 26% of UK towns. Among 550 UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000 people, St Osyth is 470th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in St Osyth?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 73%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 90%, shoplifting and theft rose 150% and anti-social behaviour rose 63%. Across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in St Osyth?
Violence & sexual offences: 97 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came vehicle crime (18) and criminal damage & arson (15), with 13 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does St Osyth compare with Clacton-on-Sea?
Clacton-on-Sea records 61.2 violent and sexual offences and 19.6 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against St Osyth’s 34.4 and 11.9, over the same three years.
Sources: data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain by LSOA (residents from ONS Census 2021) · Department for Transport road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions 2021–2025, points inside the built-up-area boundary · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.